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Dynix Vision - Staff Enhancements

The benefit of standardizing on Java is that it allows our engineers to focus their efforts on enhancing the core functionality of Horizon as opposed to building system infrastructure.

Staff Enhancements

Dynix Product Management, which includes our Library Systems Analysts, along with Engineering have reviewed the entire functionality set of by Dynix ILS and Horizon. We have reviewed hundreds of requests for new features and enhancements. The result of this effort is the development of specifications for significant enhancements to many key modules of Horizon, such as Acquisitions and Serials Control.

Our goal is to deliver a version of Horizon that surpasses the functionality of Dynix ILS. We believe we can successfully do this. Horizon 7.3 comes very close to providing all of the key features that are in Dynix ILS. Future versions will far exceed Dynix ILS functionality. Horizon is Dynix's future, and is the library management system on which you want to be running your library, so that you can leverage these enhancements in the future.

Staff Searching

One area we get asked is why the staff PAC searching produces different results from Horizon Information Portal. The reason is simple: they use different search engines. Going forward we will move to a common search engine for both, so that the results are identical. Also, we are exploring bringing some of the functionality of Horizon Information Portal right into the Launcher, such as support for Horizon Enriched Content, for staff searching.

Staff User Interface

Every release of the Horizon software strives to increase staff efficiencies by streamlining workflow and making the system easier to use. Another approach to improving Horizon is to make ongoing enhancements to the staff workstation user interface (UI). As mentioned earlier, we are moving to a Java client. The Java client technology we are working on will provide some great benefits:

Because Java is object oriented, the Launcher UI will move to an object oriented paradigm. While this is hard to describe and will be easier to understand when it can be seen, here's an attempt of what the Object Launcher may be capable of doing: A UI object is something that generally represents an intelligent function with the ability to more powerfully communicate data and integrate with other objects. Let's take an example. Let's say that a technical services staff member is putting together a purchase order. Additional items already in the bibliographic database need to be ordered. The staff member searches the catalog, finds the Bib record, then drags the Bib record object to the PO object. The data required for the PO is automatically entered due to the intelligence of the two objects. This shift to an object oriented paradigm will radically change the workflow and ease of use of Horizon.
Where possible, the new UI will use a graphical representation. An example might be in serials control. Instead of working through the current interface, setting up a serial prediction pattern might be done through a graphical interface. This may as simple as checking some boxes on a calendar, and the system figures out the predication pattern automatically.
Dynix ILS users are very comfortable using the DOT commands. As they move to future versions of Horizon, they will have the option to continue using Dynix ILS compatible DOT commands to achieve the same results in Horizon. For libraries coming to Horizon from another vendor's ILS system, they'll have a similar option to use the commands they are familiar with. These commands will be automatically translated to do the equivalent function in Horizon.
Every individual staff member or library may prefer a different UI. One thing we are working on is the ability to have different "look and feel" options to the Object Launcher. This will be selectable at the library level or at the individual user level. Like the Macintosh UI better than Windows XP? Or want a Windows XP interface on a Linux workstation? No problem. Your choice. It will simply be a set up option.

System Administration

Systems Management is something we at Dynix take very seriously. Our goal is to continue to improve Horizon to be much easier to manage than any information management system available.

First, we are working on a XML Upgrade Engine that will be able to easily move data and workflow rules from old versions of Horizon and Dynix ILS to the new Horizon Open Technology platform. Horizon 7.3 will deliver the first instance of this, to easily go from Horizon 7.2 to 7.3. Future versions of the XML Upgrade Engine will go much further than just going from 7.2 to 7.3. The XML Upgrade Engine will support moving from many different systems to Horizon Open Technology systems and will radically change the nature of upgrades.

Another big area of focus for us is the Horizon Management Console. This console will be designed to make Horizon much simpler to administer by the SA. It will provide:

The ability to monitor its own processes. For example, it will track specific thresholds and watch all system processes across all application servers. Longer term, we'll develop the ability to have the system do basic management by itself. For example, the rules engine capability will enable the system to do specific tasks when certain conditions are met.
Whenever a threshold is reached that give the SA a heads up about something within the system, the SA will be notified on whatever device they want (pager, cell phone, other wireless device, etc.). For example, when the disk subsystem reaches a certain threshold, such as the drives being 80% full, the SA will be notified. (Then the SA can order more disk storage in advance before the system runs out.) The system will be smart enough to know the difference between Critical and Proactive alerts.
Like all good systems management products, the Management Console will provide full auditing of every SA event, and will track many statistics of the system.
All of this will be provided through a single management console interface.

The bottom line will be lower total cost of ownership, by making it easier to keep the system up and running at the latest release levels of Horizon. Also, SA resources will be better utilized and more efficient, bringing down the cost of systems management.

LDAP Directory Support

We all know the importance of standards. Standards enable interoperability. They also leverage some of the best work of others without having to re-invent the wheel.

The IT world has invested a great deal in the area of directories. Directories or directory services are used to store user and system data, and allow for that data to be easily shared in a distributed computing environment. It started out with X.500 many years ago, but because that standard was too challenging to implement, a new standard was introduced – LDAP or lightweight directory access protocol. LDAP has been out for over 10 years now. There are many implementations of LDAP that Dynix can leverage, including Java-based LDAP implementations.

LDAP provides the ability for single point of user authentication and authorization. Once a user or staff member logs in, they will not need to log in to access anything else, as Dynix will provide "Single Sign On" built on top of LDAP. All third party products that Dynix resells as part of its total solution will be integrated with the Horizon Open Technology LDAP directory. Also, Dynix will be able to integrate its LDAP system with other directory services used by other systems, such as Learning Management Systems (i.e., Blackboard and WebCT).

LDAP also makes it easy to define classes of users and assign rights to the entire class. Then when a new user is defined and put into a specific class, all the rights associated with that class are inherited by the user automatically. We do that today in Horizon, but it is only supported on a single server. With LDAP this information can be easily replicated across multiple servers with ease.

LDAP is ideal for environments where multiple library management systems need to integrate well together – the consortium is the obvious example. Just like a Union Catalog is important for Bib and Item records, the same is true for users and staff records. LDAP can completely manage a directory of users for an entire consortium. Each library would still have complete control over their own users and staff members, but the data can be replicated automatically to all libraries within a consortium, based on specific rules the libraries and consortium determines. This will take capabilities, such as reciprocal borrowing, to a new level. When the user of a different library walks into another library in the consortium, the new library will already have all of the user's data. No NCIP lookups will be required. And anytime a change is made to the directory (user or staff added, edited or deleted) anywhere in the consortium, the information is automatically sent to all LDAP directories in the consortium.

Multi-vendor support is also possible with LDAP. First, Dynix would like to push for a LDAP schema that any library management system vendor can implement, to create complete interoperability between mixed systems in a consortium. Second, Dynix can create secure directory agents (gateways) that can integrate with the third party LMS vendors' user and staff member databases, so that changes anywhere in the consortium can be replicated at the third party LMS system.

Again, this takes systems management to a new level, especially for the Consortium.